Photos Of Sheriff David Morgan Swearing In Ceremony
January 8, 2009
Pictured above: New Escambia County Sheriff David Morgan was sworn in Tuesday in the Escambia County Commission Chambers. Pictured below: Morgan addresses to the standing room only crowd.
Photos courtesy Pensacola Independent News. See more here.
School Bus Sideswiped By Garbage Truck In Molino, One Minor Injury
January 8, 2009
One student received minor injuries from broken glass when an ECUA garbage truck sideswiped a school bus in Molino Wednesday afternoon.
The accident happened on Molino Road just east of Highway 29 about 3:20. Authorities say the bus was transporting special education students home at the time of the accident.
The Florida Highway Patrol said the bus and garbage truck were heading in opposite directions on Molino Road near Chestnut Road when the driver of the garbage truck, George Watson, 44, of Pensacola, veered across the center line. The left side of the garbage truck sideswiped the school bus, breaking windows on the bus and sending glass into the bus interior.
The FHP says passenger Randy D. Ledkins, 22, of Pensacola received minor injuries in the accident from the glass. Derek S. Haynie, 21, of Molino; and Cody Smith, 19, also of Molino were not injured. Bus driver Elisa J. Carnley, 52, of Pensacola and aid Portia C. Kimbrel, 57, of Pensacola were not injured.
Watson, the driver of the ECUA truck, was charged with failure to drive in a designated lane.
Engine 1819 from the Molino Station of Escambia Fire Rescue, Escambia County EMS and the Escambia County Sheriff’s Department also responded to the crash.
Pictured above: A Florida Highway Patrol trooper arrives at a school bus accident in Molino Wednesay afternoon. Pictured above and below: The windows were busted out of this Escambia County School bus in a minor collision with an ECUA garbage truck in Molino Wednesday afternoon. NorthEscambia.com exclusive photos, click to enlarge.
Brewton’s New Year’s Baby From McDavid
January 8, 2009
Kayden Blake Smith of McDavid became Brewton’s New Year’s Baby New Year’s night.
Kayden was born at 7:06 p.m. last Thursday night at D.W. McMillan Hospital in Brewton. He is the son of Kayla Zisa and Dustin Smith. He weighed in at 6 pounds, 13 ounces and was 19 inches long.
Mom Kayla says Kayden was born two days before her due date. Kayden is the first child for the couple.
Kayden is the grandson of Frank and Susan Zisa of McDavid, and Darrin Smith of McDavid and Carrie Jackson of Brewton.
Century Withdraws Support For Government Merger
January 7, 2009
The Town of Century has withdrawn its support for a plan to consolidate Century, Pensacola and Escambia County under one unified government, with council members saying that they were misled by the group Escambia All For One.
In December, the Century Town Council approved a resolution identical to resolutions passed recently by Escambia County and the City of Pensacola that simply says that Century supports moving forward in exploring the governmental consolidation sought by Escambia All For One. But the council has now rescinded that resolution on a recommendation from Mayor Freddie McCall.
McCall said he recommended the council withdraw its support for the consolidation plan after talking with State Representative Greg Evers. Evers did not support the pro-consolidation resolutions at a legislative delegation meeting in December.
“Greg said as soon as we make up our mind to call him,” McCall told the council, saying that he was led to believe that Century was just asking for a committee, not for a policy.
“You don’t know what you will be voting on,” McCall told the council.
Members of Escambia All For One, the group pushing for the consolidated government, made a presentation to the council on December 1.
“It lets the legislature know that you are in favor of moving to the next step,” Scott Remington (pictured left), co-chairman of Escambia All For One, told the council in early December. That next step involves a presentation to the county’s state legislative delegation on December 8. They’ll ask the state legislators to support a bill to form a commission to draft a consolidated government charter. That charter would then be a presented to Escambia County voters. At that point, voters in Century would decide if they wanted to keep Century’s town council government or become part of the consolidated Pensacola-Escambia County.
“This is not an endorsement of consolidation,” Remington told the council as they considered the resolution. He also told them that they would have no expenses involved with the resolution.
“The man misled us when I asked him if he wanted money from us,” Council member Nadine McCaw said. “He flat out misled us that he’s not going to ask for money.”
Jason Crawford (pictured left), co-chairman of Escambia All For One, told NorthEscambia.com that his group did not mislead the Century council, and he stressed that the resolution Century passed was identical to the resolutions passed by Pensacola and Escambia County.
“It’s ashamed that the council did this without contacting us first,” he said. “It seems pretty hasty. Nobody from Century, the council, the mayor, no one contacted us.”
“We are not even pushing for Century to be a part of it,” Crawford said. “I’m not convinced that Century needs to dissolve or not. They don’t need to get defensive.”
Crawford said Evers sent him an email Monday that he would support the local legislative delegation meeting for a re-draft of the bill.
“He’s going behind our backs if he is why Century did this,” Crawford said. “If that’s the case, he’s trying to roadblock the whole thing.”
NorthEscambia.com was unable to contact Evers Tuesday night prior to this story’s publication early Wednesday morning. We did subsequently speak with Evers Wednesday morning, and we have his comments in a separate article that you can read by clicking here.
Crawford said that Escambia All For One’s efforts for a consolidated government would continue, with or without Century. “We don’t have to have the support of Century,” he said.
“We are not involved in politics; we are trying to do this the right way. There’s not personal interest or personal gain here,” he said.
ECUA Phone System Overwhelmed
January 7, 2009
ECUA says that their voluntary recycling program has been so popular that their phone lines are jammed with with people signing up — so they are asking customers to use the internet to contact them if at all possible.
“ECUA’s phone lines have been overwhelmed with incoming calls from customers eager to sign up,” said Natalie Bowers, ECUA spokesperson.
To help alleviate the busy signals, ECUA is asking customers with Internet access to sign up for the voluntary curbside recycling program in one of the following ways:
- email support@ecua.org with your name, address and daytime phone number, along with the desired recycling container size — 40, 64 or 90 gallon.
- visit ecua.org and download a form located on the “Sanitation Services” page. That form can be faxed or mailed to the ECUA.
- phone lines hours have been extended to 7 p.m. “for as long as necessary”, Bowers said.
Pickup for North Escambia customers is Tuesdays. The pickup includes on 90 gallon trash container, yard waste and an option recyclables container up to 90 gallons. All three are picked up on Tuesday; the service is once per week.
“We at ECUA are doing everything in our power to make this service transition as smooth as possible, knowing that with any major change in operations there will be some inevitable difficulties. We thank all ECUA customers in advance for their patience and consideration,” Bowers said.
Rep. Evers, All For One Comment On Government Consolidation
January 7, 2009
State Representative Greg Evers says he is not necessarily against consolidating government in Escambia County, he’s just against the way that Escambia All For One went about getting support from Century, Pensacola and Escambia County for their cause. And a co-chairman of All For One says his group will continue to work with Evers and the legislature to bring the plan to the voters.
Escambia All For One presented resolutions to the Town of Century, Escambia County and the City of Pensacola. In the case of Century, the resolution written by the group was presented to the council at their December 1 meeting, and they were told that they needed to sign the resolution that night because it was to be presented the local legislative delegation on December 8. For Evers, that was just not enough time for the Century council to understand what they were supporting.
“It’s not the consolidation that I am against,” Evers (pictured left) told NorthEscambia.com Wednesday morning, “it’s the method that was used to get to this point.”
When the Century Town Council rescinded their support for Escambia All For One’s plan to consolidate Escambia County government, Century Mayor Freddie McCall cited conversations that he had with Evers as a reason for withdrawing support. Read that story here.
Scott Remington, co-chairman of Escambia All for One, just wishes that someone from Century’s government had called the group prior to the town pulling their support for the project.
“If someone from Century had called us with their concerns,” Remington said, “we could have cleared up any misunderstanding. But no one called. When the county had questions, Bob McLaughlin (county administrator) called us and we cleared up any ambiguity.”
Evers said he had individual conversations with each member of the Century council, as well as each Escambia County commissioner and felt that none had adequate time to look at the resolution, which essentially called for the formation of a committee to draft legislation to be presented to Escambia voters. And that’s where Evers has another problem with Escambia All For One.
“There was no oversight from the legislature in this,” he said. “The committee would write the charter, take it to the referendum and all the way to the governor for his signature without any oversight at all.”
But Evers said All For One is now willing to, and taking steps to, correct that issue.
“The representative and our group are on the same page and working toward the same goals,” Remington told NorthEscambia.com shortly after Escambia All For One held telephone conversations with Evers Wednesday morning. “I’ve got a lot of faith in Greg.”
The Baker Republican admits that he’s working for special interests in dealing with the possibility of consolidated government in Escambia County.
“They say I am working for special interests, and I am,” Evers said. “I am working for the citizens of Escambia County. I am not trying to torpedo anything. There are just folks on the left and folks on the right, and I am trying to find the middle.”
Evers said he and his staff are in the process of meeting with Escambia All For One and working an agreement that he said will be “equitable” to everyone.
“I’m an optimist,” Remington said. “We are going to move forward.”
“Ultimately, the folks in Escambia County will decide this issue,” Evers said.
Miller Sworn In For Fourth Term In Congress
January 7, 2009
Republican Congressman Jeff Miller was sworn in to his fourth full term as a member of the United States Congress at a ceremony Tuesday afternoon opening the 111th Congress at the U.S. Capitol.
“I am honored the people of the 1st District have chosen me to represent them,” said Miller, who is often viewed as one of the staunchest conservaties in the House. “I’m also grateful that my wife Vicki was able to be at my side at the swearing in ceremony.”
Since coming to Congress, Miller has established himself as one of the staunchest conservatives in the House and an emerging leader on the House Armed Services Committee. He has championed numerous tax relief and veterans’ measures and fought for smaller government, lower taxes, and the principles of the Founding Fathers.
As a member of the House Armed Services Committee, Miller has worked to strengthen our national defense and keep the promises made to America’s Veterans. Over the past two years, Miller was at the forefront of the struggle to lower energy costs and worked hard for a more sensible solution to the financial crisis affecting the economy. Miller also secured funding for two new veterans clinics in Northwest Florida that opened this year, including a “Superclinic” adjacent to Pensacola Naval Air Station. Congressman Miller was also credited with establishing Emerald Coast Honor Flight, which brings World War II Veterans to Washington, D.C. to tour their memorial.
“The next two years will be a challenge,” stated Miller. “I believe that Americans are growing tired of the dirty politics and the partisanship that is dividing this country. As Members of Congress, we need to learn to work across party lines so that we can govern efficiently, effectively, and in the best interest of the taxpayers and the nation. I look forward to working with my colleagues to ensure that we pass legislation that benefits all Americans.”
Pictured above: Congressman Jeff Miller takes the oath of office Tuesday afternoon in Washington. Submitted photo for NorthEscambia.com.
Molino ‘Queen Mother’ Leads Red Hat Ladies In Celebration
January 7, 2009
The ladies of the Red Hat Society recently held there second annual Christmas celebration at the American Legion 340 in Pensacola, complete with dancing, laughter and gifts for everyone. The mistress of ceremonies was Nan Johnson from Molino, the Queen Mother of the “Dazzzling Divas”.
The Red Hat Ladies are the ladies seen meeting together in red hats…there are often pink hats too. The red hats are for ladies over 50; the Pink Hatters are ladies that have not reached “the birthday” of 50. The purpose of the Red Hat Society, according to their web site, is to have fun.
“Little girls grow up, but they’re never too old to play dress-up and have tea parties,” the web site says.
From the “Dazzling Divas” to the “Classy Sassy Ladies of Gulfport, MS.”, everyone had their fair share of fun at the American Legion 340. Ladies that ranged from 65 to 90 danced to the music of a local band “The Dreamers”, doing the “Electric Slide” and the “Cha-Cha Shuffle”.
The Dazzzling Divas began the day with skits, gave out gifts to each lady present and enjoyed a wonderful lunch. The ladies were asked for things that brought back good memories. One of the memories was packages wrapped in brown paper tied with string. All the gifts were wrapped in brown paper with string. The ladies report a much larger turnout than last year.
Pictured above: Queen Mother Nan Johnson (in the purple) from Molino in a Dazzzling Divas skit. Pictured below: The Red Hat ladies celebrate. Submitted photos for NorthEscambia.com
Photos and story submitted by Tina Pendleton.
North Escambia Firemen Called To Massive Milton Fire; City Block Burns
January 7, 2009
Firefighters from Century and McDavid were among the over 75 firefighters that worked for hours Tuesday night to control a massive fire in Milton that destroyed almost an entire city block of the town’s downtown historic district.
The fire was reported on the block with the historic Imogene Theatre about 7:00 Tuesday night. Most of the block was destroyed, including a coffee shop, a bookstore, and a professional office building with lawyers’ offices. Officials say the structural integrity of several of the buildings was a concern. The Imogene Theater, built in 1912, received some smoke, fire and water damage but was believed to be structurally intact. The buildings are located across the street from the Santa Rosa County Courthouse on Caroline Street in Milton.
The Century Station of Escambia Fire Rescue and firemen from McDavid were dispatched to the scene about 8:00 Tuesday night to provide relief manpower. Century’s engine and the firefighters arrived at the scene about an hour later. They remained on scene in Milton until 1:06 this morning.
Click here for a photo gallery from the scene.
Pictured above and below: A massive fire consumed a large portion of an entire city block in Milton Tuesday night. Over 75 firefighters, including firefighters from Century and McDavid, battled the blaze. Submitted photos for NorthEscambia.com.
Unknown Author Called Ignorant, Cowardly After Fliers Question Century Dept. Of Justice Probe, Bond Agency Scam
January 6, 2009
Century’s attorney has essentially called the unknown author of fliers left around Century ignorant and cowardly. The fliers question if the Century council could be part of a Department of Justice probe due to involvement in a bond agency that is scamming taxpayers.
“Century Florida Subject of Department of Justice Probe?” reads the headline on the flier that was left at the entrances to Century Town Hall, the Century Branch Library and other locations around the town sometime between the afternoon of December 31 and the morning of January 2.
“The ’second signature’ finance agreement Century has with Gulf Breeze brings pennies to Century compared to the millions Gulf Breeze is able to scam from taxpayers,” the text on the flier begins.
The Town of Century and the City of Gulf Breeze have been partners in the Capital Trust Agency since 1999, issuing over $1.5 billion in bonds for public housing projects, a Seminole Indian resort and a healthcare facility in Kansas. In return for providing the second signature on the bonds, the Town of Century has received payments totaling over a half million dollars, according to Matt Dannheisser, Century’s attorney. Dannheisser also serves at the attorney for the City of Gulf Breeze.
“What kind of advise is Century getting? — Is it really a no-brainer or more like Gulf Breeze needs a easy mark to take advantage of? While you guys are pick’in cotton in the north part of the county, the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) and DOJ investigates Secret Agreements, Bid Rigging, Kickback Schemes and other conspiracies which involve Black Box Scams. Read about the Staggering Scandal in phantom bonds based upon Charles Lecroy public housing model that Gulf Breeze and Century use to rip off the poor,” the flier continues.
“The flier you furnished has the heading “Century Florida Subject of Department of Justice Probe?” Quite simply, that is false. Although there is currently an ongoing nationwide Department of Justice investigation of various major players in the public finance industry (e.g., underwriters, insurers, financial advisers, derivative providers, etc.), neither the Town of Century nor the City of Gulf Breeze nor Capital Trust Agency are involved in the investigation and there has not been the slightest assertion of wrongdoing on their parts,” Dannheisser wrote in an email sent to town council members.
“Another comment in one of the fliers suggests that Century and Gulf Breeze could be at risk for issuing “phantom bonds.” This remark again reflects the ignorance of the author of the fliers who cowardly fails to identify himself. In connection with every issuance of bonds by Capital Trust Agency I have explained to the Town Council and hereby again reiterate, that there can be no financial exposure to Century or Gulf Breeze (or, for that matter, Capital Trust Agency) should there be a default in any of the bonds,” Dannheisser wrote. “…a suggestion that Century, Gulf Breeze, or CTA could be made to pay delinquent bonds only serves to demonstrate the ignorance of any person making such statements.”
On the subject of “Kickback Schemes”, Dannheisser said in his email that CTA assisted the IRS in their prosecution against financial advisor Chambers, Dunhill and Ruben and AIG Insurance through one of their subsidiaries after such a violation in connection with bonds issued in 1990. But he said that Century, Gulf Breeze and the CTA had no knowledge of the violation and no part in it.
“In connection with that bond issuance, the IRS issued a letter to Capital Trust Agency clearly finding that CTA had acted properly and had not done anything wrong in connection with the bonds and their issuance. Again, suggestions by the unidentified author of the fliers suggesting otherwise are merely petty and malicious attempts to cast aspersions against people who have provided a valuable public service,” Dannheisser wrote.
“Lastly, a comment in the flier also questions the benefits to the Town of Century of participating with Gulf Breeze in the creation of Capital Trust Agency. Not only has the Town’s participation been at no risk to the Town (i.e., each financing plan includes a provision where CTA will indemnify the Town for any damages or expenses that it could incur), the Town’s participation has resulted in it receiving around $500,000.00 in revenues. There are local governmental entities in northwest Florida that are very eager for such revenues and willing to take Century’s place. Yet, Gulf Breeze recognizes the value to Century in participating in the arrangement and that Century is perhaps more in need of the financial assistance than other interested local governmental entities,” the town attorney’s email said.
Dannheisser’s email states that people associated with the CTA would like to learn the identity of the person that distributed the fliers so that civil or even criminal prosecution could be pursued.
Dannheisser’s email was sent late Monday afternoon to Ann Brooks, Century town council president. Brooks had emailed one version of the flier to the attorney early Saturday morning. His email also says that Century Mayor Freddie McCall had faxed the flyer to him. Copies of the email were also sent to council members Henry Hawkins and Nadine McCaw, Mayor McCall, Century clerk and assistant Dorothy Sims and Karen Hughes, CTA Executive Director Ed Gray III, attorney Richard Lott, Gulf Breeze City Manager Edwin “Buz” Eddy and a person with an email address username “slucasmedpa” that NorthEscambia was unable to identify late Monday night.
It appears from Dannheisser’s email that he may not have intended for his comments to be public.
“…as the attorney for the Town of Century, it is not my place to publicly respond,” Dannheisser wrote. “I will not have any public response to the anonymous and ludicrous comments set forth in the fliers.”
NorthEscambia.com obtained a copy of the email shortly after it was sent. The copy of the email we obtained does not indicate that it is privileged attorney-client communications.
But the letter became public record without a doubt Monday night when Brooks read the entire letter verbatim at the Century Town Council’s meeting.
NorthEscambia.com will continue to follow this developing story and bring you the latest details.
Pictured above: One of the fliers distributed around Century Friday that questions if the town could be part of a Department of Justice probe in connection with bonds issued with the City of Gulf Breeze through the Capital Trust Agency. Pictured bottom: Council President Ann Brooks (L) and Sharon Scott read the email from Matt Dannheisser, town attorney. NorthEscambia.com photo, cflick to enlarge.